Google to Glass Users: Avoid Being 'Creepy'

The new Google Glass "Thin" prescription frames in "tangerine" color rests on a table at the Google Glass Basecamp space at Chelsea Market, Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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After a number of unpleasant incidents, Google has some helpful advice for users of Glass: "Don't be a Glasshole." That's just one of many tips offered in a new list of dos and don'ts for users, compiled from feedback from those who've actually tried the product, NBC News reports. A fair chunk of the guidelines is devoted to social etiquette. In addition to not being a Glasshole (defined in the document as acting "creepy or rude"), Google suggests you "ask for permission" before, say, recording people: "Standing alone in the corner of a room staring at people while recording them through Glass is not going to win you any friends."

You might also want to consider your own appearance: "If you find yourself staring off into the prism for long periods of time, you're probably looking pretty weird to the people around you." The tips aren't just social, however. Google also urges people to use Glass safely. "Water skiing, bull riding, or cage fighting with Glass are probably not good ideas," the document points out. At CNET, Chris Matyszczyk notes that Google may be trying to protect its product's future: "Breaking the rules or being rude will not get businesses excited about Glass and will ruin it for other Explorers," the guidelines say. (One former fan calls Google Glass a literal headache.)

I went to a conference Thursday for more ceu credits and the new FBI director spoke about this device and other devices that law enforcement across the nation must tool up to combat. If there is a technology that helps a common citizen then a criminal will use it even that much more for illegal gain. Take pagers and then cellphones that gave a huge boost to the crack and meth distribution trade. So now officers are learning how to collect evidence from Google Glass. Officers often carry laptops running an MDT package and many use Mobile Cop. I can see Mobile Cop coming up with a parser to scan Google Glass for forensic data. The same thing happens with your car's diagnostic chip that records activity of the SRS and is used often to get convictions on wrongful death trials. It records speed, throttle position, SRS activity, and inertial fuel cutoff condition among a few things. I figure cops will be taking Google Glass off of corpses and then plugging it in to see if there is a final life video of the incident. Its already happening on your phone when you get into a crash regardless of fault. Were you talking at the time of the incident. Did tower polling show you were texting at the time. Many phones send data packets that tell the system you are currently entering a reply to a text. That is recorded in the tower polling log which has a wealth of data on your activity.

Jon Q. Publix

Feb 19, 2014 9:02 PM CST

Maybe it's not the users --- maybe it's the product that is creepy and rude. Idea --- don't build a device that turns people into "Glassholes". Or better yet, don't become a "Glasshole" by mounting this rude, privacy invading device on your head.

wartengu

Feb 19, 2014 10:11 AM CST

"Don't be a Glasshole." LOL Reminds me of those freaks who talk to themselves via ear phone, you're not cool, you're creepy.